BREAKING NEWS

BREAKING NEWS

Loren Andreson

Loren Adrian “Swede” Andreson, 80, Minot, and formerly of rural Deering, died on Friday, May 10, 2013, in a Velva nursing home.

Loren was born on Jan. 27, 1933, in Minot, to Alfred and Bertha (Abrahamson) Andreson. He was raised on the family farm in New Prairie Township of Ward County and attended a one-room rural school prior to attending and graduating from Minot High School in 1950.

Loren married Orvetta Kunkel on April 4, 1952, and they made their home on a farm in Kottke Valley Township of McHenry County near Deering. Loren was drafted into the Army in 1953 and served as a field wireman and as a supply depot sergeant. He received numerous sharpshooter awards prior to being honorably discharged as a sergeant first class in 1955.

Following his discharge, Loren returned to the family farm and expanded the operation by purchasing the Sweetwater Ranch, where he raised purebread Beefmaster cattle. His passion for agriculture was recognized in 1976 with the McHenry County Soil Conservation Award.

He retired from farming and ranching in 1978 and moved to Minot in 1979 and later became the Ward County Weed Control officer. He was instrumental in the use of helicopters and insects for the control of leafy spurge on a statewide basis for which he was nationally recognized. He retired in 1998. He had resided at Trinity Homes in Minot and Souris Valley Care Center, Velva, during his lengthy struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.

Loren served on the boards of directors for Kottke Valley Township and School, Deering Farmers Elevator and School, and North Dakota State Weed Control. He was a past master and longtime member of the Ashlar Masonic Lodge No. 69, Granville, and a member of the Granville American Legion Post, was a member of the Baptist faith and served as the cemetery sexton for Rosehill Cemetery, rural Norwich.